Syaoran and Dimension-Hopping
by Rosabell
Summary: Semi-AU seq to Blood and Duty. Teenage Li Syaoran's living happily with his foster father Yue and girlfriend Sakura, when a magical disturbance pulls him to the realm of the Dimension Witch. Now he has to put up with an inscrutable Fai and an scary Kurogane, while trying to get home before his overprotective guardian has a panic attack. Luckily, his cell phone still works. R&R plz!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a continuation of my completed work, Blood and Duty. I'm considering finishing my other works but I need a little time to recall what my ideas were for those, so stay tuned, I guess. This one's a light work, nothing serious, just written for fun. I am incorporating some TRC elements, but I don't know the original story very well. Will try to make it familiar, anyhow; this is semi-AU anyway. If you haven't read Blood and Duty, basically this takes place in a semi-AU CCS universe where Yue did not seal away into the Clow Book like Kero and Syaoran's clan had been massacred by vengeful sorcerers when he was very young. Yue thus raised Syaoran as his son.**

**Since this is semi-AU, there are no feathers in this story, nor are there clones. The Syaoran in this fic is the Syaoran from Blood and Duty, ie the CCS Syaoran.  
**

* * *

Syaoran and Dimension-Hopping

Chapter One

_"How is school?"_

"Stressful," Syaoran replied, tucking the phone between his shoulder and his ear. The soup was boiling, so he turned down the flame to keep it from spilling. "I mean, it's manageable, but not particularly fun.

_"I imagine not. Are you applying for colleges yet?" _Eriol asked.

"Not yet. Next year. They're starting to step up the prep. One guy in our class tried to kill himself last week, police got to him just in time, but people are already starting to lose it."

Eriol made a dismayed sound. _"Tch. Honestly, what's the big deal? It's just school."_

"I know. Dad had a talk with me after that, but seriously, why would I want to kill myself after spending so much effort staying alive? And I'm doing alright in school." He did not want to say he was doing _well_, since doing well was an uphill battle, but he felt safe stating that he was not doing poorly. "Not to mention, if I develop suicidal tendencies because of _academics_, that kind of bruises the pride, you know. Actual murder attempts didn't make me want to drop the ball, but a couple of grades do?"

Eriol chuckled. _"Healthy perspective, Xiaolang."_

"More like sane. How is it on your side?"

_"Alright. Been getting drenched here. You know how the weather is in the UK. Watching the US elections."_

Syaoran grunted. "Watch as they elect Bush again. They call him _Bu Si _in Mandarin."

Eriol laughed more openly at this. _"Might be a good thing. He needs to beat the zero curse."_

"What zero curse?"

_"The Americans have had a long stream of presidents who died before their term was over whenever they took office during a year that ended with zero. Think Reagan was the first to break the curse, but by a few centimeters or something."_

"Huh. Coincidence?"

_"If it isn't, it's a design that is beyond my perceptive abilities."_

Syaoran glanced at the soup again, lifting the lid to stir it. "That's interesting."

_"Mm. In magical news, any disturbances lately?"_

"Depends on how you define 'disturbance'," Syaoran muttered, "Sakura's been fine. I guess Clow Reed didn't make as many enemies as the Li clan did."

_"I would not say that. Clow Reed_ was _Roman. He merely took care of them more completely than the Li clan did. What did you mean by define 'disturbance'?"  
_

__"Well, I did get jumped on recently." On his way _to _school, no less. He had been late for the first time since…the Clow Cards.

_"You seem alright," _Eriol said kindly.

"Not hurt, anyway. Just want this to end already. Whole vengeance thing on the Li clan is…truly dragging on far longer than I think I should tolerate. I have enough to worry about _without _magic."

_"Will they come back?"_

"I hope not."

_"Xiaolang," _Eriol sounded chastising.

"I turned them into squirrels for two hours and then let them go."

Eriol burst out laughing again, but when he spoke, he was serious. _"Xiaolang, if you keep letting them go, they will take advantage of your mercy. Word gets around."_

Syaoran scowled. "I know, but…"

_"You really should consider getting more involved in the magical communityI know you try to stay away, and hai, the politics are a total nightmare, but you can't expect to fend these people off by yourself forever. You've incorporated Clow's powers well, and you have Yue, you have Sakura, you have Touya, even, but it would be nice to have other allies. The Kinomotos aren't the only honest folks around."_

Syaoran worried his lip. He knew Eriol was right, but that childhood fear of anyone magical was still deeply ingrained. He trusted the Kinomotos and he trusted Yue and he also trusted Eriol and Kaho…and that was about it.

"I'll think about it."

_"Do."_

* * *

"I think you have a cold."

One somewhat inconvenient thing about being linked to Yue was how the guardian was now attuned to his health, often more so than Syaoran himself.

"For real?" He whined, as Yue felt his forehead, "Please tell me it's mild."

"Let's try to keep it so," Yue ushered Syaoran to bed.

"I don't even feel anything!"

"Well I do," Yue's tones allowed no argument, "So let's try and tackle this before it blossoms to full-blown pneumonia."

"You don't get pneumonia from _colds_," The teen grumbled.

"Who says you don't?"

* * *

Despite everything, Syaoran still fell ill.

"I was _just _talking to Eriol about how school is starting to become even _more _intense. Stupid bug. I need to raid his mansion and see if there's any spell that can just block all illnesses."

"Right, because spells never have consequences," His guardian read his temperature. "My goodness, thirty-nine point five. You are one sick kid."

"I'm fifteen years old!"

"Your point?"

Syaoran folded his arms and pouted.

"Bedrest until the fever clears _at the very least_. Would you like Sakura's teddy bear?"

"Go away, Dad."

"Listen to that," Yue pointed, "I take care of you, and this is the thanks I get."

"I'm not ten years old, and I hate this."

Yue ignored him, turning around to step out. "You should stay home tomorrow and sleep in."

"Bah."

"It's for your own good, you know," His father pointed out, "And besides, what if you sneeze and then you release your magic and turn everyone into squirrels?"

"I have better control than that!"

"You never know," Yue called from the hall, "I'll get you some medicine."

"Yue…" Syaoran scowled again.

"Do I hear a kid whining?"

"I'm not whining."

"No homework for today."

"…What—I'll get _so _behind—"

"It's just school."

"Oh, it's _just _school, as if school doesn't totally decide your whole way of life around here…"

Yue's footsteps went down the stairs. Syaoran huffed out a breath of exasperation.

* * *

He dreamed he was little again. Yue was holding him close, as he usually did back then. Usually, people did not remember the times when they felt the safest, because it is such a passive state of being, but Syaoran remembered the very first time he felt the complete contrast between the hell that had been his life and the turn it had taken.

_I am Yue, Guardian of Clow._

He had crawled out of the water, frozen to the bone, and the guardian looked no warmer, with his pale coloring and icy gaze. It had been nighttime, the darkness contrasting to the guardian's glowing form, and the only thing Syaoran could think was _I am dead, I cannot go on, no further._

Sometimes he could still feel the sheer sense of failure, so deep and profound, when he realized he had been caught and there was no way for him to escape now. He was exhausted, cold, and on the last vestiges of consciousness. When he closed his eyes, he thought he would never open them again.

For the first flight, Syaoran had been unconscious. Yue had heard sorcerers approaching and carried the boy away. Syaoran had later asked him why he bothered to save him, and the guardian had been dismayed by the question. _Is that not something any proper being would do?_

It was not until after the Clow Cards were released and Syaoran met Sakura that he understood what Yue had meant. After a year on the run, being chased and taunted and tortured, his mental state was in a craze. He often wondered why Yue chose to put up with him back then. He had been unconscious a lot, he knew. Things could have happened then, without his knowledge. He had a feeling Yue might have been halfway crazed himself, after centuries of loneliness, and wanted any companion at all, but that did not seem entirely true. Either way, the guardian chose to keep him, and the first time Syaoran finally trusted him was on the first flight, after Yue had assembled a home and welcomed Syaoran into it. The guardian had been upset and at a loss. Syaoran had been testing Yue's intentions and temper. They used the flight to feel better, and Syaoran felt, for the very first time, the thrill of being above the world and the fear of falling from such heights.

Through it all, Yue's arms were tight and secure around him, and they sailed over the buildings of Hong Kong, under the wispy night clouds, for hours and hours and hours. It was the first time Syaoran finally accepted that he was going to be alright, that Yue was trustworthy. When they landed, his guard had plummeted enough that the stress of the past year could finally well forth. Yue had hugged him as he wept, letting him take however long he had needed. Drained from the episode, Syaoran had relaxed into the guardian's embrace, and slept easily for the first time in over a year.

And from then on, the two were inseparable. Yue was not naturally affectionate, but for the five-year-old he had allowed the repeated intrusions into his personal space. Syaoran had also needed a lot of reassurance: that he was alive, that he was being taken care of, that someone was there for him. It was not long before such gestures became natural. Being apart…simply did not make sense.

But the first time was such a transformation, even though now things have normalized and being in a safe home with someone who cared for him seemed like the most natural thing in the world, sometimes his mind would go back to that moment, or the nightmare before. Lately, it had been the former, usually consisting of him being small and young again, Yue much bigger and mysterious, but with a true, transparent love that Syaoran trusted. Sometimes he would wake up and be disoriented.

This time, though, the dream changed.

* * *

There was some figure…or figures…immersed in a pool. A man, fair of skin and hair, stood at the edge. There was some girl with him, and they spoke in a language Syaoran did not understand. The man had magic though, and with a surge of magic, the girl transformed into a net-like barrier over the pool. Then, with a solemn glance at his creation, the man cast another spell and disappeared.

The world rippled. He was in some kind of castle. A warrior, tall and lithe, with eyes as cold as steel, swept his blade, spraying blood everywhere. Syaoran was momentarily struck with the memory of the massacre of the Li clan, seeing all his relatives desperately casting spells, but being struck down methodically by the tide of sorcerers. The dream's lull dulled his panic, however, and he was able to remain asleep, watching this man slaughter the last of his enemies. Blood pooled along the ground, sloshing around his feet.

There was a soft rustle of silk. Syaoran looked up.

_Wait a second, is that Tomoyo-chan? What the—_

* * *

Yue moved his hand away. "Sorry, _Xiaolang_," He said in Cantonese, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"I was having the _weirdest _dream," Syaoran blinked. "Wait, not the weirdest, but definitely up there in 'disturbing'."

"You didn't seem distressed when I came in." The shutters were still closed, and Yue was sitting on the side of the bed. His long hair spilled over his shoulders as he leaned forward to feel Syaoran's forehead again.

"Probably because I was thinking 'what the heck?' I was seeing these people, and it's like I was a nonexistent bystander, none of them knew I was there. Which is good, because one of them was on a murder spree, and _Tomoyo _was there, and she was dressed like some Japanese princess."

"One can argue that she _is _a Japanese princess."

"She doesn't wear that kind of kimono though, nor does she wear her hair in…that. Good grief, maybe we should warn her to do a background check on her future boyfriend, in case he's a serial killer."

Yue frowned. "Do you think we should?"

"I don't know. It was weird. It seemed so…real. The blood, and everything. I almost woke up, just from that." Syaoran lowered his eyes. "But something kept me calm, and I just watched as the ninja-samurai murdered everyone. Then Tomoyo showed up, dressed like that, and I was just like 'what the—' and then I woke up and you were taking my temperature."

"Sorry."

"No, I didn't want to see much more of that." Syaoran shuddered. "Do I have a fever still? Maybe it's giving me weird dreams."

"You're not _very _hot. I wouldn't expect you to be delusional, anyhow, but it's possible that your illness is making your dreams dramatic, yes."

"Man, is there something wrong with me? Do other sick kids dream about people on killing sprees?"

They both ignored the other obvious possibility: that what Syaoran had seen was real, in some time or realm.

"I've heard some tales in my lifetime," Yue reassured him with a smile of subtle amusement. Syaoran remembered the first time Kero had seen that smile; the sun guardian looked like his jaw was about to dislocate. "The human mind is a curious thing. I wouldn't worry overly much about it. Not right now, anyway. If it's something we should relate to Tomoyo we can do it later on."

"Will ask Sakura if she's found a new crush, though," Syaoran murmured thoughtfully. "You never know." The dream was starting to fade from his mind. He could no longer quite remember what the man looked like—either man. Or even what happened, other than what he had told Yue, and only because he had said it out loud.

Yue stood. "Medicine and tea," He declared, "I already called the school, told them you were staying home. After you take those, if you want you can go back to sleep, or I can make some miso soup. Would you like that?"

"Sure," Syaoran replied, "I think I can stomach soup."

* * *

"…because _Oni-chan _has a new stalker," Sakura pushed at her rollerblades as they went home from school. Syaoran was on his bike, but instead of sitting properly on it, he was standing on one pedal and pushing with his other leg. Sakura gave him an odd look when she saw he was not going to ride it, but did not comment on it. "It's because he's tall. It's really annoying."

"He is really tall for a Japanese man," Syaoran agreed, "I think he's as tall as a white man."

"Still really annoying. And he doesn't like her, says she reminds him too much of Nakuru."

Syaoran shuddered. He had never liked Nakuru. Even when Eriol revealed himself to Syaoran for the benefit of his healing abdominal wounds, Nakuru had been insufferable. She kept calling Syaoran all sorts of nicknames and making fun of him for being a child. She had no sense of what was off-limits; one time she even made fun of the Li clan massacre, to Syaoran's speechless shock. Eriol had put a sharp end to that, but Syaoran still ended up having a nightmare about that awful event the following night. Compared to even Kero, she was intolerably immature and tactless.

"How come _Touya-san_ still hasn't found anyone? I find that very strange."

"_Hoe?_"

"I mean, his sister's seven years younger than him and we're dating. Don't you find that kind of bizarre?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. He's so busy with life stuff. Job, and everything. And frankly, I'm not that eager for him to find someone. I'd have to put up with whatever sister-in-law he chooses. I want him to be happy, and I want him to find someone _eventually_, but if he's not in a hurry, why should I be?"

"Good point," Syaoran chuckled. "I just find that odd. Yue and I were talking about that the other day."

"Giving you the _talk_?" Sakura teased.

"_Kami-sama_," Syaoran groaned. "You're not letting that one go are you?"

"No _way_, it's too funny!" She giggled uncontrollably, enough that she had to slow down a little. "I mean, my _otou-san_ got so nervous that he had to get _Oba-san_ to talk to me, he was so desperate and you know how he and _Oba-san _don't get along," _Oba-san_, of course, referred to Daidouji Sonomi. "But at least I had someone who actually knew how this whole thing worked. I can't believe _Yue-san _tried to do it himself. Did he have to look stuff up? _Kami-sama_!"

"I love my _otou-san_," Syaoran grinned at her mirth, "But this time wasn't the _talk_, kind of past that at this point. It was just a random comment, I can't even remember how it came up. Speaking of your _oba-san_, does _Tomoyo-san _like anyone, or is she dating anyone?"

"You're in the same class!"

"I know, but I was sick for several days."

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"Just something that came to mind."

"_Syaoran-kunnn…_"

"I had a weird fever-dream, it involved Tomoyo dressed like an ancient princess and some guy. You know with this reincarnation business that nothing is outlandish anymore."

"Ooh!" Sakura exclaimed, but Syaoran spotted a pothole and veered her away before she could continue.

"You think _Tomoyo-chan _is about to meet her soulmate?" Sakura asked when that was over.

"_Kami-sama _I hope not." Not wanting to alarm his girlfriend, the teen grumbled, "He looked _creepy_."

"Well, I'll keep an eye out," Sakura declared, "Who knows? Maybe someone is coming along."

There was a sudden pulse of magic, prompting the two to brake.

"Really?" Syaoran remarked in wry tones, "Am I not behind enough on schoolwork?"

"I can go check this out on my own," Sakura offered.

"_Iie…_I'll come along, wouldn't be able to focus on my assignments until I knew for sure what's going on. Besides, Yue probably felt that too."

The guardian had, arriving at the site several minutes after the teenagers did. Kero came seconds later. The pulse came from a secluded section of the park. There were children playing around the penguin slide and several old people wandering around, which meant any business needed to be done discreetly.

"It feels like a side-effect of something," Yue noted, "It doesn't carry the character of a magic-user, more like a spell."

Sakura was searching through her cards. "I swear, lately it's like the cards don't want me to pick them or something. Remember when we were capturing the cards, and later when _Eriol-kun _came? I didn't even have to look at the cards, I just drew and there was the card I needed, but now they're constantly buried in the deck and there are over fifty of them to look through. Ugh."

"You could always get rid of some," Syaoran pointed out, "There are quite a few that are pretty useless. Like the Flower card. Seriously? Flowers? Did Clow Reed run out of useful things to do and just grab any random excuse to make a full poker deck? And the Bubble Card—why exactly couldn't he just have used Watery and added a bit of soap? He had to make a whole card just for washing Kero?"

"I'll have you know," Kero protested, "The Bubble Card is _very _good at what it does."

"And thank heavens for that," Yue quipped, "Because that meant none of _us _had to wash you."

"…You've spent too much time with the _gaki_."

Sakura found the card she wanted, but she started laughing as she pulled it out, making it awkward to cast any spell. They had to wait until she collected herself.

"Alright, Shadow," She declared, "Let's see if we can figure out what our mystery disturbance is without having to venture to look for ourselves, because I am not wandering into those bushes in these rollerblades."

The hooded Shadow spirit slid away at her command. Sakura focused, prompting the others of the group to fall silent. Syaoran kept his senses alert, magic coiled and ready to unleash in their defense.

"There is something…" His girlfriend murmured, sounding a bit distracted, "But…I'm not getting a good sense of what it is."

The Shadow came back, forming into a card and sailing into her hand.

"Maybe there's too much light over there…"

"I'm going to head over," Syaoran said, "If it didn't attack Shadow it probably wouldn't attack."

"Be careful," Kero warned.

"_Matte_," Sakura sighed as she searched through her deck again. "Seriously, what is going on lately, it's like the cards went on a holiday…"

She finally pulled out the Shield, holding it between her index and third finger to summon it more quickly. The shield generated through this technique was not as strong, but it was faster than using the staff. Syaoran went ahead, and Sakura went behind, senses alert. They went through the bushes behind the building.

A glowing portal, composed of a swirl of different colored auras, hovered in front of them as if it belonged there and nothing were out of the ordinary.

"What is that?" Sakura blinked.

"I have no idea."

"Should we try to close it?"

It was a good thought. Syaoran had a feeling he did not want anything behind the portal to come through. "Let me see if I can close it."

He took all the necessary precautions, testing with his magical senses first, avoiding touching the aura, but as soon as his spell made contact—

* * *

The world blurred, and Syaoran felt himself being pulled through space. He did not even hear Sakura's reaction, though he sensed her aura recede from his senses as if pulled by a vacuum.

_Mother of—_ Syaoran thought ungenerously. Stupid magic! _God—_

_To be continued…  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Syaoran and Dimension-Hopping

Chapter Two

"Freaking…" That hurt. It felt like that time when Ruby Moon dropped him from above a building back when Eriol had been testing Sakura. The fall was not lethal, since Eriol had been trying to provoke Yue's reflex while seeing if his own will could override it, but that did not mean the wind was still not knocked out of his lungs.

"Interesting," Said a woman.

An unfamiliar woman.

_I'm in trouble._

"_Waaaah,_" A face popped into his view_. _"That was some fall you took there!"

Syaoran blinked. It was that fair-haired man. _Well isn't this just dandy._ "Who are you?"

"I can ask the same of you!" The man reached a hand down to the teen, "But I'll relent, since you're the one that had the fall. I am a Celes country wizard. Fai D. Flourite."

Syaoran heard 'Fluorite'. _What kind of last name is that? _And what country was Celes? "_Ano…_I'm Li Syaoran?" He allowed the older man to pull him up, turning around to behold some lady and—_oh for—really? Psycho is here? _This day just kept getting better and better.

* * *

Ichihara Yuuko was infuriatingly unhelpful. She had no idea how Syaoran had arrived here, especially since people usually came here or were sent here intentionally.

"I'm in another realm?" _Mother of—_ "I need to pay a price to go back? And I don't even get to go directly back, I just get to hop around trying to see if some random dimension I landed in would somehow be the right one?"

_This is bogus._ He worried about Yue, since being in a separate dimension—would that cut off Yue's support? What if he faded already? Swearing, Syaoran took out his cell phone.

Since magic involved similar situations to this, Sakura and Syaoran had worked on spelling their cell phones to work without satellites. It involved some skillful tampering with the Maze Card, which could warp reality and theoretically operate across realms. This was never actually tested though; in the past, usually Sakura and Syaoran fell into some pocket dimension created as a subset of the real world. They were never transported _out _of their world and _into _another one entirely.

But the phone still had signal.

"Verizon," Syaoran read. It even had one bar. He was not sure what to make of that.

"What is that?" The man who called himself Fai looked over his shoulder.

"You can look after I give my dad a call."

"Your dad?"

"Yes," Since discovering he was in another world anyone, and that everyone was understanding each other despite the languages they spoke, Syaoran had switched to Cantonese. "I don't know what this bar means, but I'm going to see if this phone can call across dimensions."

Yue picked up in a hurry. _"Xiaolang!"_

"Oh, you're alright." Syaoran breathed a sigh of relief.

_"Thank God…"_ Yue broke away to tell the others, from the sounds of it, that Syaoran seemed unharmed. _"Where are you? The portal closed behind you and I could sense you but I couldn't pinpoint where you are."_

Fai was scooting very close to listen to the curious noises coming out of the phone. Syaoran had a suspicion the wizard thought Syaoran's father was _in _the phone. He moved away so Fai's face would not brush his own. "Fluorite, please, I have a girlfriend. I'm not gay. Yue?"

_"…What was that?"_

"Some guy, doesn't know what a cell phone is. You can sense me?" That was encouraging. "I need help. I'm stuck in a realm that's also called Tokyo and there's someone named Ichihara Yuuko. The names sound Japanese, even if they don't actually speak Japanese."

_"…Ichihara Yuuko?"_

"Uh…someone also called her the Dimension Witch? The Eastern—no, the Far Eastern Witch. She said she can send me home but it would require a lot of detours, and I also have to pay a price. Which I don't want to pay."

_"What price?"_

"My magic." That was not happening for a variety of reasons, but most importantly because if he gave up his magic, he would be killing Yue.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

_"You're with the _Dimension Witch?_" _Yue sounded baffled. _"How on earth did you end up there?"_

Anxiety coiled in Syaoran's gut. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

_"Well, it's going to be difficult to get you back. Especially from there—the Dimension Witch is a very powerful sorceress, and her realm is very far from ours. Transporting people from any realm is difficult as it is, but hers—as far as I recall, it's far__."_

_Well, I'm not getting any homework done anytime soon. _"This is not my fault," He complained.

Yue was not listening. Someone was talking to him, and he covered the phone to talk back. Fai had leaned close again, though this time he was keeping a discrete distance, so Syaoran allowed him to indulge in this curiosity. Meanwhile, the ninja-warrior, Kurogane, was scowling as hard as he could as he tried to bargain with Ichihara, who was watching Syaoran with something like fond amusement. Syaoran caught words like _Tomoyo-hime _and asserted that he really _really _wanted to go home.

_"We're going to call Eriol. Can you stay on the line?"_

"I'm apparently not going anywhere!"

_"Don't worry, Xiaolang, we're going to get you home," _Yue promised. There was something reassuring about having him say that, even if Syaoran knew logically that Yue had no more guarantees than Syaoran did.

_"Syaoran-kun?"_

"Sakura."

_"Gomen nasai! It happened so fast—"_

"It's not your fault, don't worry." Syaoran spent the next minute reassuring her. At this point, Fai had gotten over his curiosity and was just watching him with amusement. Syaoran found this a little puzzling. _What's so amusing about me talking on the phone?_ Maybe it did look funny to people without phones.

"You are a lot stronger than I expected you to be," Ichihara said to him when there was a break in the phone conversation.

"Oh?"

The witch nodded. "Then again, many things happened in your realm that I had not expected."

Syaoran found this interesting. "Do you know of all of them?"

"Not all," Said the witch, "But I am somewhat familiar with your world, yes. It goes to show, for all our wisdom, the universe is far greater than our mortal minds can comprehend. You are weaker than you usually are, however. I expect it is because you are sustaining your parent across realms."

Syaoran narrowed his eyes. Where was this all going? _She is not going to attack me or something right? _Seemed awfully strange to do when she had waited for his cell phone call. Besides, as far as he knew, the Li clan never crossed with anyone outside their own dimension. Not someone from a real dimension, anyway.

Sakura suddenly came back on the line. _"Syaoran, how much magic do you need?"_

"…" Syaoran blinked. "How am I supposed to _quantify _the amount of magic that I need to _hop through dimensions? _I mean, it's big enough that I can't use any of mine without risking Yue. I don't know if that gives you any idea."

Sakura broke away to discuss in the background.

"Are we seriously going to wait for this kid?" Kurogane demanded, frowning frightfully.

"Patience, my guest," Ichihara replied, "He is more of an ally than you may realize."

"I don't _need _allies. I need to get back _home_."

Sakura came back on the line. _"How about this, Syaoran, three cards."_

Syaoran blinked. "…_Nani?!_"

_"The Hope is really two cards in one, and the two most powerful cards besides—" _Someone said something to Sakura, possibly Kero. _"Well the deck was fine even without the Nothing and when it fused with Love everything canceled out so I don't know what you mean by 'balance the deck'. Hoe? Well I guess I'll make another if it's really necessary. Iie, but we need to get him home."_

"How are you even going to transport your cards here?" Syaoran's mind was still spinning from what his girlfriend was offering to do. "And this is stupid, you shouldn't be paying for an _accident._ Whoever caused this mess should be paying for it. _I _certainly didn't arrive here because I had some _wish_."

Ichihara smiled at this, but said nothing.

_"Well when you find whoever caused this mess, be sure to get them to pay up front and get my cards back. Consider this a loan."_

"Can that even work?" Syaoran looked up at Ichihara and asked her this."

"Hmmm…" The witch hummed thoughtfully. "The price being paid is not for my own pleasure, _Li-san_. It is used to power your wish. However, in this case, since your effective wish is merely to tag along with the others until you arrive home, and you were indeed not sent here on purpose…I will allow it. Tell the Card Mistress that her cards will be safe in my possession…until you find whatever caused you to arrive here."

Kurogane huffed in annoyance. He had already given his sword, which he relinquished with profound displeasure, and vowed to return to find it. Fai seemed to be mouthing the words 'Card Mistress'. Syaoran hoped he was just as curious about the title as he had been about the cell phone, and he did not actually know what a Card Mistress was. He had no idea what it meant if it was the latter.

_Add another thing to the list of 'things I have to do'. Alright, _Syaoran related what Ichihara told him. He felt a little better about this arrangement. "So Hope, since you're not likely to use it…but are you sure you don't want to hold onto it just in case?"

_"I have fifty other cards. I'll think of something. I'm keeping Flower though. I've used it before, it's the only thing that works for last-minute bouquets."_

Syaoran rolled his eyes, but she was right about that.

_"I will give you the Wave, no reason to hold onto it if I have Watery already. Bubbles, since you pointed out I don't need it. The Sweet, because I have no intention of giving anyone diabetes."_

"Ha!" Syaoran loved Sakura.

_"So that's four, actually. The Twin, I don't even know what that is for—"_

"Sakura, you don't need to hand over half the deck—"

"I will accept five cards," Ichihara interrupted, "And a token, from you."

"What token?"

Ichihara smiled grimly. "Since you have the combined powers of your own magic and half of Clow Reed's, you are best suited for a task I must complete. Upon your return to your world, when all this is settled, there will come a time when I request a favor from _you_. I want your vow that you will give it."

Syaoran frowned. "What favor?"

"It will be revealed, in time."

He frowned even further. "You're asking for a blank check."

_"What's going on, Syaoran?"_

Kurogane groaned when Syaoran related this to his family. "Kid can't even make up his own mind? Seriously? He has to consult with that little box of his for every decision?"

"It's some kind of communicator," Fai explained, "I want one of those."

"_Who _is he communicating to?"

"His parents, I believe. And perhaps some sister."

Syaoran made a face at this. Yue had flipped out when he learned that in addition to pedophilia—Fujitaka had been a high school teacher who married his student when she was sixteen—Sakura's family also had a case of unfulfilled incest, by the manner of Sonomi and Nadeshiko. It was not something he ever intended to share with his girlfriend, but he found the whole matter disturbing himself. At least Sakura did not seem prone to falling in love with Tomoyo. He supposed he would have to watch out for Touya. _Good heavens, what if he is waiting…ugh, ew ew ew ew ew—_

_"No way," _Yue's voice was adamant. _"Syaoran, don't you dare agree to it—"_

_"Syaoran, I'll hand over however many cards it takes to get you home—"  
_

_"You don't make that kind of vow lightly,"  
_Yue went on, _"And you can't break out of it. If later on she has you do something reprehensible, you can't back out. No deal."_

Ichihara, once again, seemed aware of what was going on. "I will not compel you to do anything that goes against your values, _Li-san_."

"All of them or some of them?" Syaoran asked astutely, "And would you swear that in turn?"

"All of them," The witch said readily, "And I will do so, before you do. Is that fair?"

_I doubt this is what Eriol meant when he told me to make magical connections. _Syaoran related this to the other side again.

Yue was still dubious, but less firm about this decision. _"I do not like it, but from appearances it is acceptable."_

_"Eriol-kun said it is acceptable. He said the Dimension Witch is not evil. Which is a relief for us,"  
_Sakura sounded wry.

"So five cards and a favor from me? We're in agreement then?"

_"Hai. And we'll try to draw you from whichever realm you're in that is accessible to me. I'll work on that."_

"How are you even going to get the cards here?"

Ichihara decided to help with that, instructing Syaoran to tell Sakura to place the cards, one at a time, on Yue. Since Yue was a being of magic that had a direct connection to Syaoran, the two could behave like relays for magic. The power of the card would absorb into Yue's body, travel upstream to Syaoran, and supposedly sail out of his aura and accumulate in her dimension.

The first time Sakura tried that was nauseating. Syaoran felt like he had adhesions from his abdominal wounds all over again. The first card was the Wave, which came out of his chest in its spirit form, which splashed everyone except Ichihara. It turned into a card and hovered in front of her. She took it from the air.

"That is one," She said.

Kurogane was cursing, utterly drenched. Fai looked fascinated, though he also seemed a little worried about Syaoran, who felt like all of his blood had pooled into that wave.

"Kami-sama," The boy exclaimed, "That did _not _feel good."

_"Gomen ne…"_ Sakura was apologetic, _"Did it work?"_

"Hai it worked. Give me a second, will you?"

Bubbles followed, making Syaoran feel no less nauseous, then Twin, which temporarily made doubles of everyone before accumulating into its card form. Kurogane was especially disturbed by that one. The Sweet, which bounced around, looking especially at Kurogane, whom Syaoran had to admit had the least sweet disposition out of the company. Hope came out, gave Syaoran a kiss on the lips, much to his astonishment and embarrassment, winked at him—_it must have been from Sakura—_and went obediently to Ichihara.

"What. The. Hell." Kurogane exclaimed when this business was over.

"I had no idea there was magic like that!" Fai exclaimed. "What is this, 'Card Mistress'? How many cards does she have?"

Syaoran was on his knees. "I really hope we don't have to do that again."

The wizard rubbed his back. "You did well, kid. That was amazing!"

"When you are ready," Ichihara announced, "You and I will make our vows, and I will give you the power to go through dimensions."

* * *

"Since your price is reduced," Ichihara told Syaoran, "I can only do part of the work for you. Some of your magic still has to be expended to attach yourself to Mokona."

Said creature looked like a white ball of fluff that happened to have long ears like a rabbit. It had a black twin, and the sight of them was so bizarre that Syaoran could not stop staring. These two creatures could easily have been Clow Cards.

"How much magic?" He asked. If it was too much, then he was back to the reason he could not leave the dimension in the first place.

"You should have enough to spare for your parent," The witch told him, "However, I would recommend resting between each stop, to recover your strength. You would not have enough left over for your guardian if you do more than one jump at a time. In addition, whatever sent you to this realm came from one of the realms out there, and it may behoove you to take a look and see if you can find whoever was responsible for sending you here."

That made sense. Syaoran nodded.

Mokona took an instant liking to Syaoran, opting to sit on his head and mess up his hair with its paws. The little creature had a great deal of magic, which only bemused him further. Fai, easy-going and light as air, clapped a hand on his shoulder, while Kurogane made a point of staying away. Which was fine, because Syaoran was not sure he wanted to associate any more than he had to with a potential psychopath. He realized that in addition to getting home, he also had to survive his companions.

This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

Hooking on to Mokona left Syaoran completely winded.

"You have a lot of power!" Fai exclaimed, "That was a rough ride, but you held on!"

"How long before your magic or whatever recovers?" Kurogane demanded.

Ichihara was right about one thing. Syaoran definitely did not have enough power in him for another trip in a row. Not without risking Yue. "At least a day," He told the warrior. "I'll let you know. You have a woman to get back to, so do I. We might even get picked up here, and then my girlfriend and I can try to send you…wherever your place is."

Kurogane snarled.

_Guy needs to get a sense of humor._

"So where are we right now?"

As the other two tried to figure this out, Syaoran wasted no time giving Yue a call.

"Hi Dad."

_"I felt your aura drop."_

"Are you alright?"

_"I'm fine. I'm more worried about _you_. Did you make it?"_

"Well I'm in another world…"

After everyone assured each other that they were all respectively fine, Syaoran hung up to join his companions, who were talking to a pair from the current world they were in.

"We should get you indoors!" Said the two strangers, leading the way. Fai followed, with a bizarre smile on his face. Kurogane looked annoyed and ready to protest, but Mokona hopped from Syaoran's head to Fai's shoulder, prompting the two others to follow.

* * *

Syaoran supposed he should not be entirely surprised that his _kudan_ or whatever it was happened to be a wolf. It was convenient, because he did not want to use his actual magic, especially since it seemed to be regenerating more slowly than usual, but the _kudan _served as an automatic spell reservoir. On the other hand, it did irk him a little that his two companions had nicer familiars than he did. Kurogane had a dragon, while Fai had some sort of phoenix.

"So where did you two come from?" Fai asked, as they rested in the sitting room of their hosts, the Arisugawas. Once again, Japanese-sounding names, but no Japanese language.

Kurogane responded by leaving the room, wordlessly announcing that he had no intention of breaking any ice with his companions.

"Awkward," Syaoran remarked.

"Very," The wizard agreed. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, _Syao-chan._"

Syaoran winced. "Can you not call me that? I wouldn't mind, but there use to be this girl who use to call me that." Nakuru had called all three of them: Touya, Yue, and Syaoran, by mocking endearments, thus ruining potentially cute nicknames.

Fai responded with a whistle. "Bad breakup?"

"Of a sort. She wasn't my girlfriend. It's a long story, but the short of it is, she was very annoying, and I never liked her, but she was the sort that could not take a hint, you know?"

"Ah, I know what you mean." Fai nodded.

"What about you?"

"I'm from Celes."

"Not familiar with it."

"Wouldn't expect you to be."

"You were some court wizard? Did you work for a King?"

There was a slight hesitation. "_Hai._"

"Any girlfriend of your own? Wife, maybe?"

Fai grunted. "_Iie._" He looked at Syaoran. "So what's that thing you called, a 'cell phone'?"

"Oh." Syaoran took it out to show him. "You were right, it is a communicator of sorts. Normally doesn't work without a satellite, but my girlfriend and I spelled it so that it can work without it. At least, it's linked to her cell phone and my dad's."

Fai examined the device. "So how does this thing work?"

* * *

He dreamed that night.

He was on the run. He was starving and thirsty and a headache pounded in his skull. His knees trembled with every step. Behind him, magical auras were approaching.

_Please please please please please…_

Life had become a blur of madness. No thought, no emotion except fear and desperation, the most basic instincts to live and fight for another breath. He was no better than a wild animal, a young wild animal that had lost its mother and discovered the world to be full of predators.

But panic could only sustain him for so long. Rough hands captured him, covered his face. The spike of fear that shot through him blasted his mind into wakefulness.

It was night. The Hanshin Republic continued its bustle outside, but all was dark. His companions were sleeping.

Syaoran sat up and rubbed his arms to ease the fright from his muscles. _I guess all this dimension-traveling is really getting to me._ No Yue to come to him and reassure him.

He could always call.

_I'm no longer a kid though. _Syaoran could not always go to his guardian every time he had a nightmare. And this one was alright, really. It did not get too far.

_I need a drink of water._

* * *

"So that is the general store, has everything from clothes to food to medicine, you name it, they have it, and that over there is some beauty parlor for women…"

Syaoran was distracted. There was something odd about this world, now that he was out on a tour. It felt like a light remnant of the portal that had taken him to Ichihara.

Kurogane loomed over him like a shadow. "What are you twitching for?"

Syaoran was a little cowed. "…I'm twitching?"

He was met with a flat glare.

_Really needs to lighten up._ Syaoran was not going to take chances with someone who clearly had no qualms about slaughtering people, though. He did need to defend one point, however. "I don't _twitch._ I just sense something, it is very faint. I'm not sure what it is."

Mokona bobbed its ears up and down. "_Syaoran-kun _senses something?"

This caught Fai's attention, as well as the Arisugawa. "Eh?"

Syaoran wanted to slap his forehead. "It's probably nothing, but I feel the tinges of the same magic that had pulled me to Ichihara. I'm not sure though. It's too faint. I might just be imagining things."

"_Ooh._ I would keep that in mind," Fai declared, "This one's no runt. We'll keep a lookout for you, _Syaoran-san._" Ever since explaining to him why he did not like the nickname, Fai had been considerate and called him properly, though he did not relent on Kurogane. It was nice to see that the wizard was not afraid of the warrior. That made one of them. Maybe it was because Fai was older.

* * *

They were taken to a restaurant, where Syaoran experienced another rude shock to his nerves.

"_Touya-san!__"_

__"Eh?" The man who resembled Touya _to the hair_ blinked in confusion. "Do I know you?"

_Well, that is scratch one for stupid things I've done so far._ "Oh, you just look like someone I know."

"Someone who also happens to be named Touya?" Asked the fair-haired young man with glasses.

Syaoran played along. "What a coincidence."

This world's Touya, at least, seemed as disinterested in smalltalk as Syaoran's own. "Are you ready to order?"

Fai elbowed Syaoran in the ribs, chuckling. Syaoran set his head down on the table when the waiters left, with the fair-haired man, Yukito, making fun of Touya's "now un-original name".

"It's alright," Said the wizard, "This sort of thing happens."

"You should be more careful what you blurt out," Kurogane scolded.

"Oh come, _Kuro-puu, _not like any real harm could have come out of that."

"Do _not _call me that!"

Syaoran raised his head. "I am _really _ready to go home now."

His cell phone rang. Everyone looked at him for a moment as he stared at it.

It was Sakura.

_"You're still too far," _She told him, _"You need to go somewhere else."_

__Syaoran muttered something ungracious. "Guess what," He changed the topic, "I saw your brother just minutes ago."

_"…Hoe?"_

__"_Splitting _image, kind of creepy, has similar mannerisms too. I really want to get out of here before I meet some other version of you, or heaven forbid, _myself_." Fai laughed at this.

_"Oh. Goodness. Kami—well I can't do anything. You will need to go to another world."_

__"That's…not going to happen for a while." His magic was nowhere full, and he did not want to risk Yue in _any _way. "Where's _Otou-san?_"

_"Resting. He's at my place. He didn't want to drain you in case you come up against something dangerous."_

__Syaoran grinned wryly at this. Here he was, trying to conserve his powers so that his guardian was alright, and Yue was back home trying to conserve powers so that _he _was alright.

_"Any luck finding out what sent you away in the first place?"_

__Syaoran frowned at this. "I might. Will get back to you on that. I'll call again when we shift worlds, but it might not be for a while."

_"Daijoubu. Eriol-kun is arriving soon, we'll let you know if we come up with something."_

__"Sure."

He hung up.

"All is well on the home front?" Fai inquired, as Mokona munched on the food in front of them.

"_They're _not the ones hopping around worlds with totally different rules of metaphysics."

"True," The wizard chuckled with good humor.

* * *

Different rules of metaphysics also meant different rules of culture. It was not long before the supposed gang rivalry system that predominated the realm found them, and Syaoran was forced to face the confrontation—not that it was particularly difficult or costly, he just used his _kudan_. It did slow down his recovery, however, and in the meantime he determined that…no, whatever he had sensed earlier when they were sightseeing was no longer there.

"The thing _moves?_" He complained to Fai, "That's going to make it even _harder_ to trace." He wanted to go home, but he also wanted to get Sakura's cards _back_. Especially since the Hope was not a trivial card to give up.

"You'll find it," The wizard assured him, "If it's yours, it's yours. Don't worry."

"Easy for you to say," Syaoran muttered moodily, and prepared to latch on to Mokona as they entered another world.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I did in fact read the manga and watch the anime version of TRC in early chapters, but that was a long time ago and I don't feel like doing research just for this XD I've already deviated quite a bit from the main arc, what's a few inconsequential worlds, right?**

* * *

Syaoran and Dimension-Hopping

Chapter 3

At the end of the jump, Syaoran had enough time to notice they were in some kind of forest, before he passed out.

He woke up finding himself arranged near a campfire. Kurogane was sitting with his arms folded, scowling, while Fai and Mokona were chattering quietly about nothing in particular. They all looked his way when he moved.

"_Wa_, _Syaoran-san_, that one knocked you out in a bad way," Fai stood to walk over to him. "How are you feeling?"

He felt drained enough to forget about Yue for a moment, but only a moment.

"Must he call his parents at _every _opportunity?" Kurogane sneered. Syaoran ignored him.

_"Big leap?" _Yue asked, sounding stronger than Syaoran expected.

"Are you alright?"

_"Xiaolang, stop worrying about me. Unlike you, I have people I can rely on if there is any trouble."_

All Syaoran cared about was that the guardian was alright. "Please tell me that you guys can get me from here. I don't know how many times I want to chance fate. This last one knocked me out."

Yue hesitated. _We were trying before you called. It still appears too far. Sakura is currently sleeping now, since it is nighttime."_

_Great. _Not that Syaoran imagined she would be able to provide more insight were she awake. "Maybe we should transfer you to someone else, temporarily."

_"No one here has the power to do what Eriol did five years ago. He split his magic after he conducted the procedure and gave half of his magic to you. You are the only one who has enough magic to orchestrate the transfer."_

_And I'm also not _there._ Figures._

_"Just stay safe," _Yue sounded calm. He was actually quite good at staying calm; the only time Syaoran remembered Yue ever losing his composure was when he had been fading after the Final Judgment, culminating to that fateful day when Eriol revealed himself to Sakura and her guardians_. "Do not worry about me. If something happens to you, all the magic you save will be for naught. Just stay safe, take care of yourself, and I will take care of things from here. You forget, my child, that I have walked this world for thousands of years before you were even born. I am better equipped to handle dilemmas than you fear."_

Hearing him say that made Syaoran feel much better. Even though he knew Yue was saying that mainly to convince Syaoran, he could not argue that his guardian had a point. Surely someone who was thousands of years old had a few tricks up their sleeves.

"Alright. I'll call later, when something changes. Love you, Dad."

_"Mm,_" Was all Yue replied, but somehow that wordless grunt meant more than any words he could have used.

"So what's the story with you and your father?" Fai asked conversationally as the group began to pack up camp. Mokona rested on Syaoran's head as he helped douse out the fire with dirt and they wandered out to a main road. The world they had landed it was definitely populated, judging from the constructed paths that could not have been formed by chance or the simple press of constant migration, but the woods were silent save for some murmurs of wildlife, and there were no signs of sentients to be seen.

"It's a long story," Syaoran replied, senses seeking for the same presence he had felt at the Hanshin Republic. Mokona was turning on his head to the same direction as the tingle.

"Hm…" Said the little creature, "There is…something. Hm."

"I can't put my finger on it either," Syaoran murmured, "And at the moment, I'm not sure I want to risk depleting my magical reserves in a confrontation."

"We should still take a look around, seek civilization," Fai pointed out, "We're kind of low on food, and who knows, maybe this world has a brew that can fill you up instantly."

"What, like a videogame potion?" Syaoran raised an eyebrow.

"…A what?"

_Right. No cell phones and no videogames.__ Obviously there was never a Square Enix where he came from.  
_"When we get to my world," Syaoran told him, "You can hang around and I can take you to an arcade."

Fai blinked. "What's an arcade?"

_Oh God._

The court wizard grinned, perhaps catching his thought, and Syaoran allowed himself a chuckle.

"Are you two done?" Kurogane interrupted.

Syaoran turned. "Right. So follow trail toward that direction," He pointed where he sensed the presence, still faint and rather difficult to locate, "And hopefully we encounter some form of civilization beforehand where we can stock up on supplies, or something."

"Sounds good to me," Fai nodded, while Mokona also agreed.

* * *

"So you never did explain what is going on with your father," Fai nudged him as they walked.

"Hm?" Syaoran blinked. "Oh, it's a long story."

"Well you said that. We're not really doing much here."

Kurogane was walking slightly ahead. He would have gone faster, Syaoran was certain, except he needed Mokona who was riding on Syaoran's head, and Syaoran was not quite recovered enough from his fainting spell to race anyone.

"I guess," Syaoran frowned, not entirely eager to divulge his life's tale to his eccentric companions. Five years ago, he would have told Fai to mind his own business. Now, Syaoran had matured enough to realize that the best deflection was a soft one. "In my world, thousands of years ago, there was a sorcerer named Clow Reed who created a set of magical cards."

"The cards that came out of you when we were at the Dimension Witch's?"

"Yes," Syaoran allowed. "When he died, the cards were sealed in a book, which was eventually passed down to my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Fai raised his eyebrows. "I see."

Syaoran was not sure what he saw. _Did people from his world have girlfriends? Ugh, I don't even want to know._ "Anyway, the problem was, Clow Reed also created two guardians to take care of the cards as they're passed down. One of them was Yue. Unfortunately, his magic was moon magic, which…" _Does Fai's world have a moon?_ "Well, he needs a secondary source of magic, because his own magic isn't sufficient to boost himself. When my girlfriend inherited the cards, she was supposed to support him, but she was really young…only ten, eleven years old, not fully matured yet. So…I ended up supporting him instead, since I have magic to spare." That was the short of it, with many parts missing, but it should suffice for Fai.

"Intriguing," Said the fair-haired man. "You call him '_Otou-san'_, however. Why is that?"

Syaoran did not feel like elaborating. "Because he is."

One advantage to dealing with a person from another dimension was that Fai had no idea whether he was supposed to accept this answer as reasonable or not. A further inquiry could potentially lead to an even longer-winded explanation that the wizard clearly was not certain he wanted to hear. He appeared to withdraw at this, letting silence fall.

Unfortunately, Syaoran forgot about Mokona.

"_Yuko-sama _said that he adopted you."

Syaoran made a face. "How did she know? I mean, not _how did she know,_" It was clear that Ichihara was a powerful sorceress, if even Yue knew of her despite being from a different world, "But why would she bother finding out about _me_ when there are hundreds of other worlds out there?"

"Hm, not sure," The creature chirped thoughtfully. "She was always kind of interested in you, and in Kinomoto Sakura."

It was stated innocently enough. Syaoran managed not to reveal too much of his alarm.

"Any particular reason why?"

"Well, of course!" Mokona hopped up and landed on Syaoran's head again. "Not every five-year-old human child can survive a year on the run!"

Fai always gave the impression that he took nothing seriously, but at this his gaze became especially penetrating. Syaoran avoided it, mostly because he was focused on schooling his own features.

"Eh, it's…" It was a big deal, but if he admitted that, it might invite more questions. "I don't remember much of that time. Five's pretty young."

An outright lie, and he had a feeling Fai caught it, but the fair-haired man was kind enough not to point it out.

Ahead of them, Kurogane suddenly stopped. He froze in the same place long enough for them to catch up, looking around him and listening intently.

Syaoran stretched out his senses. He wondered if Kurogane was also schizophrenic, because he did not sense anything—but then he heard something.

Mokona leaped off his head just as he heard a hiss of an dart. He whirled around and caught the tiny projectile before even realizing he had been attacked.

Fai made an impressed sound. "Good catch."

"Watch out!" Kurogane pushed Fai out of the way as another dart sailed through the air. It imbedded itself into the trunk of a tree.

Syaoran dashed for cover. He pulled on his magic to test how much he had, then decided against using it. For now, he was going to see if he could not come out of this battle without it.

The branches rustled, and a man's voice, rough but young, resonated as if coming from all around them.

_"Chitter chatter in the wilds. Nature welcomes only the silent. Those who break the quiet, pay a price._"

Then a figure landed in front of Syaoran and attacked.

Syaoran still trained after the Clow Cards, but more for health than anything; Eriol's magic made self-defense a little bit of a moot point, so he had focused more on retaining flexibility and strength rather than quickening his reflexes. Fortunately, he always had a quick mind, and in the battle-calm that fell over him as he faced his enemy, the reflexes he did have responded to his will quickly enough for him to avoid the worst blows. His assailant was clad in dark green, but what was worrisome was that in his movements, there was magic imbued, an aura Syaoran could only faintly sense, but potent enough to be very dangerous. Frost spells that could freeze his limbs upon contact, poison that would lace his blood with fire, dark impulses meant to subdue him to unconsciousness. He ended up dodging instead of blocking, flipping back in retreat. A flash of poisoned blade warned him that he needed to end this quickly.

He had passed out earlier and Yue had been fine. Maybe he could afford a spell or two to get these people off his back.

_Master Time,_ Yue had told him once, _And you master everything._

The guardian had neglected to tell him that the Time Card was under the influence of the moon. Figured that the trick he instructed Syaoran to pull was also a trick he utilized himself. Syaoran admitted he should have known better, but he was still a little miffed about that sometimes. He could not tell the guardian so without hurting his feelings; Yue had been devastated when Syaoran lost and Sakura won instead, but sometimes Syaoran did find himself irritated by that oversight, usually when he lost track of time and was nearly late for something.

Final Judgment notwithstanding, freezing time _was _a useful trick to get one's bearings, and Syaoran summoned the spell using his basic moon magic. A wind was blowing through the trees, and he felt the air slow under the influence of magic—

Only to feel the spell whisk out of him, as if sucked through a vacuum.

_What?_

Unnerved, he fell further back. The assailant was launching more attacks now, and this time his magic carried some of Syaoran's aura.

_What the—he stole my spell!_ Syaoran ducked under a swipe. _Well, two can play that game, buster!_

He had never stolen anyone's magic before—that sort of thing was quite dishonorable, and ever since gaining Eriol's magic, Syaoran never exactly needed _anyone else's._ He could not afford people stealing his magic now, though. Yue's life was at stake, not to mention his own. Surely it could not be that hard—

A shadow swept overhead. Another assailant. What kind of bandits would fight so well? These people were trained. Syaoran dodged and retreated further as yet another attacker joined the ranks. He was being isolated from the others.

He _was _isolated from the others.

There were too many of them at once. Desperate, Syaoran kicked. Normally, kicking was a poor move, especially a high kick, but his assailants were not expecting it and one of them caught his foot full in the throat. That had to have hurt, though Syaoran did not give it much mind; he had lost his balance and to compensate, he threw himself down onto his hands to get more control of his momentum. This, however, put him in a position facing away from his attackers, and even as he began to turn around, he felt two latches on his aura, and his magic proceeded to drain.

_No._ He tugged back. _That's _mine_. _The drain froze, but the latch did not release.

Suddenly, a swell of aura burst through the connection, alien and toxic.

_Oh—_

He could not even swear in his head. The feeling was awful, much like when Sakura sent her cards over to the Dimension Witch, except this time the magic did not travel out of him. Instead, it stayed in his core like a festering infection. He crumpled to the ground, limbs shuddering.

_Oh Dad, I'm so sorry…Sakura…I can't believe—_

"_Ishimatte!_"

It was the same rough but young voice. Darkness was swirling over Syaoran's eyes, and it was difficult to grasp what was going on around him.

_"…Ida-sama."_

Footsteps crunched on the twigs littering the forest floor. Syaoran felt like his insides were trying to consume themselves. _Ugh, even going through what I've gone through, this doesn't get easier._ It was like every old injury he ever acquired was flaring up all over again.

A hand grabbed him by his hair, twisting so that fire laced along his scalp. His head was lifted and he blearily opened his eyes.

"Well well well, what have we here? Amber-eyed youth from the Unknown lands," A chuckle, "The prophecy does not disappoint. Not a bad-looker either."

Syaoran's stomach dropped like a cold stone as he recognized that face.

* * *

Raw terror had a way of making everything stark and penetrating. Even now, Syaoran had nightmares about some random event or another that had occurred when he had been hunted for being a member of the Li clan. He would love nothing more than to forget that horrible year ever happened, to just jump from being with his family, happy and blissfully ignorant, to being with Yue and feeling safe and loved again. Yet even though they happened less frequently, from time to time, the intervening months insisted on invading his subconscious visions. It was as if they simply refused to be forgotten. A scar that refused to go away.

One of the harshest memories he ever had was in the beginning, when the Li clan was first attacked. His mother had told his eldest sister, Fuutie, to gather the rest of them to somewhere safe. Just as Xuehua collected Syaoran, he saw the entrance explode, and in came a young man.

Li Yelan was a powerful sorceress. She was the direct descendant of Clow Reed and highly respected by the rest of the clan. Though she could not compare to Yue's extensive knowledge of magic, Syaoran always knew, and Yue later confirmed, that Yelan was not one to be trifled with. This man engaged Yelan with a fluidity of a master, and Syaoran knew he survived the encounter because later, he chased the frightened boy across Hong Kong. The man's face use to wake Syaoran up screaming in the middle of the night, clinging tearfully to Yue who would assure him that no one was coming for him, that the guardian would fight off anyone who tried, and nothing was going to come between the two of them because they had each other and that was stronger than anything else in the world.

He never found out this man's name. Syaoran had never seen him in the flesh, ever since meeting Yue.

"_He's _the one?" One of the other assailants exclaimed, while the man Syaoran kicked in the throat was coughing and gasping for breath.

"We better kill him." A sword flashed as it slid silently out of its leather sheath.

"_Iie,_" The fingers in his hair tightened as the other hand reached out to touch Syaoran's face. "I have a better use for this one."

"But—"

"I _said_, _iie!_" The man growled in warning. "Are you defying my orders?"

_"…Iie, Ida-sama."_

"_Yoshi_…fate has smiled upon us today. Tie him up and take him along."

With that, Syaoran's hair was released. It dropped to the rough dirt. His limbs were still trembling from the shock of the festering magic within him.

Footsteps approached, and rough hands grabbed him. Something welled up from his stomach and he retched. Blood splattered, coppery and diluted with acid. His handlers did not gentle at this, and Syaoran barely had time to blink at the mess before a cloth bag was pulled over his head.

_Do these people just carry bags around for this purpose?_ His snarky side thought, as he fought to suppress the panic swirling in him. One good thing about the sordid magic in his core was that he was in so much pain that he could not even summon the breath to scream.

"What about the others, _Ida-sama?_"

There was a pause. Syaoran's stomach clenched again. Blood and acid smeared on the cloth that then brushed over his face. He was heaved to his feet, but his legs would not support him. Someone cursed, and he was lifted again, but this time a thick arm wrapped around his middle and swung him onto a burly shoulder.

"Bring them," Said Ida. "They might prove useful. We can always kill them later."

_So they're not dead,_ Syaoran had the mind to think, _But they didn't get away._ He wondered what became of Mokona, and what Ida's goons made of the creature.

His stomach clenched again. This time it seemed to go on and on, blood and saliva, and then dry heaves.

Eventually Syaoran stopped noticing.


End file.
